


The Way You Look Tonight (Sincerely Three Oneshots)

by ItIsTheSpaceJam (fallenkilljoy4)



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, M/M/M, Mentions of Suicide, OT3, Self-Harm, oneshots, sincerely three
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-11-29 20:02:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11448048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallenkilljoy4/pseuds/ItIsTheSpaceJam
Summary: Just some Sincerely Three oneshots that I come up with at random for your viewing pleasure





	1. In which Connor gets a guitar

Evan knew getting Connor a guitar for his birthday was a good idea. Connor didn't know how to play it at the time, but Evan knew that Connor would pick it up quickly, like he did with just about everything else. 

He knew he'd definitely made the right decision when he saw Connor's face light up as he picked up the purple acoustic for the first time. Jared had gotten him everything else he'd need to get started, a tuner, a chord book, a strap, a capo, extra strings, a shit ton of picks, and some black nail polish, just because more couldn't hurt. 

For weeks after, Connor would sit on the couch strumming chords. At first, he swore a lot, because fuck, the strings hurt his fingers, but after he built up calluses he was pretty okay for the most part.

The funniest thing Evan and Jared had ever witnessed was when Connor was in the middle of a chord progression and accidentally dropped his pick inside the guitar resulting in him having to flip the instrument over and violently shake it to try and get the pick out. Some choice expletives were used during the ordeal, and Jared and Evan have never laughed harder in their lives.

It wasn't long before Connor finally broke a string. It was the high E string, so breaking it wasn't exactly the hardest thing to do. What was hard, though, was replacing the damn thing. To someone experienced, replacing the string wouldn't have taken more than ten minutes, however, seeing that Connor wasn't experienced, it took him the better part of an hour. Evan had returned from work to find Jared in the living room watching TV, and Connor stressed to the point of near tears. He was sweating so much that he'd rolled his sleeves up, not caring that his scars were on full display, and he'd almost taken his eye out with the string for what must have been the tenth time. When he had finally finished, Evan made sure to pat him on the back and rub his shoulders, and Jared let Connor sprawl across his lap while he played with his hair.

Sometimes, Connor would just sit there with the guitar in his lap, not even playing. He called it “bonding with his instrument” and insisted that Zoe had done the same thing with her guitar back in high school. Connor had never seemed happier than he did when he was playing guitar, which made his boyfriends even happier. Playing had become a distraction for him. Instead of taking his emotions out on himself, or turning to drugs, he just played his guitar, and everything was okay.

One day, Evan and Jared had gone out shopping and left Connor home alone. When they returned, they heard not only Connor playing “Bright” by Echosmith, but singing as well. It was no news to them that Connor had a beautiful voice, but paired with the guitar, he was so passionate. In fact, he was so immersed in the song that he didn't even realise that his boyfriends were home until they had started clapping when he'd finished. 

After that moment, Connor was more than happy to sing for them. He loved the feeling of finally being good at something, and being able to use it to make other people happy too. Anything Jared or Evan wanted to hear, Connor could play, and if he didn't already know it, you could bet that he'd have it down in an hour tops. 

You wouldn't think that an instrument could change someone for the better. Evan never would've thought that either. But he and Jared had both noticed how much happier Connor was these days, how his eyes sparkled more, how much more affectionate he was toward them. Getting Connor a guitar was the best decision Evan had ever made.


	2. If I Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jared works on the weekend and Connor and Evan bond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow a lot more poeple are reading this than I ever would've imagined thank you so much! Also, to thwart of my impending writers block feel free to comment some requests for stuff you wanna see and I'll try to make it happen

Jared didn't work weekends often, so when he did Connor and Evan made it a point to spend time with each other, one on one. They loved spending time with Jared, of course, but sometimes they just needed time to themselves, without Jared being, well, himself. Tonight was no different.

Connor had gone the full nine yards and made Evan a romantic dinner with candles and fresh flowers on the table. 

“I was thinking, after we're done eating,” Connor said, wiping his mouth with a napkin, “we could just, lay on the couch and listen to some music”

“You forgot to rent the movie didn't you?” Evan denounced, laughing and shaking his head.

“Look, I just think we can both benefit from some bonding time, despite my hard exterior I secretly do enjoy cuddling.” Evan raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend, “...and I might've forgotten to rent the movie”

After Connor washed the dishes and wrapped the leftovers, the two laid down on the couch and let the sound of Connor's playlist ring out. Evan felt so content wrapped in Connor's arms and, if he was entirely honest, Connor's depressing music was kind of ruining the mood.

“Connor, um, do you think we could, uh, listen to some of my music, maybe, if you want to?”

“You don't like my music?” Connor gasped, feigning hurt.

“No no no, I like your music it's just, I mean, all you ever listen too is, like, Nirvana and Lonesome Wyatt and stuff and, it just gets kind of repetitive, you know, I mean, I can only listen to Grim Weepers so many times…” Evan said, hoping he hadn't hurt Connor's feelings for real.

“Fine, I'll put on KMFDM instead.” Connor reached for his phone and began scrolling through his music.

“Which one’s KMFDM again?” Evan asked, mentally kicking himself for not keeping up with Connor's interests.

“They're the ones that play the German techno music you don't like” Connor laughed, but instead of putting on a song, he handed the phone to Evan. “Knock yourself out”

Evan scrolled through Connor's music, trying to find something he wanted to hear, before finally deciding on a random piano ballad. As the soft music filled the air, Evan could feel Connor's grip tightening around him. 

“I love you so much, you know that?” Connor sighed, “Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if...if when you fell out of that tree or...or when I took all those pills what would've…” He took a deep breath, “What would've happened if, what we intended to happen...happened? 

“I don't know” Evan said, shaking his head, “I try not to think about that. I mean, if you weren't around, I don't know what I would do. Jared and I, we’d be a complete mess and, I don't know if...If I lost you I don't know if I'd ever be able to love anyone again”

“Well you don't have to worry about that. I'm doing better now, and I'm not going anywhere.” Connor pressed his lips to Evan’s forehead. “And next time you're going tree climbing, give me a heads up so I'll be there to catch you if you fall”

“I will” 

Evan turned on his side and buried his face in Connor's chest, and Connor drew patterns on his back with his finger. All was silent until there was a slam from the front door and a shout of “Sup homos! I'm back!”

Jared tossed his keys onto the coffee table, kicked his shoes off, and unceremoniously flopped himself down on top of his boyfriends. Connor shifted so that he had on arm around each of them as they all exchanged ‘welcome home’ kisses.

“How was work?” Evan asked.

“Aweful. I spent 20 minutes arguing with a guy that thought he couldn't use the pink shampoo because he's a dude.”

“Fucking toxic masculinity is gonna ruin this entire goddamn country” Connor sighed, “But then again I suppose it's already screwed to the point of no return”

“Damn straight!” Jared agreed, earning raised eyebrows from both of his boyfriends, “Well fine, damn gay then.” 

That night in bed, Connor held both of them just a bit tighter, and he relished in the fact that he was lucky enough to be alive and drifting off to sleep to the breathing of the two most wonderful boys in the entire world.


	3. An Abundance of Dune Grass

They all hated field trips for one reason or another. Evan hated them because of his crippling anxiety, Connor hated them because they were stuck in assigned groups made up of people he didn't like, and Jared hated them because they never went anywhere interesting. This field trip was no exception. In fact, this field trip would pretty much go down in history as the worst field trip ever, the reason being, it wasn't so much of a field trip as it was community service. Ah yes, because planting dune grass on a freezing cold beach in the middle of March was what every kid thought of when they heard the word “fun”. 

To be fair, Evan didn't hate the idea. He was happy he got to give back to the community and help save the beaches and their wildlife. On top of that, they had been allowed to pick their groups for this trip, so Connor was 90% less likely to have a meltdown, and with Evan spewing out a new ‘fun fact’ about dune grass every two seconds, Jared was forced to find it at least a little interesting.

“Did you know that this type of dune grass is called Ammophila breviligulata?” Evan asked, beginning to dig another hole. Connor looked up from the hole he was digging with Jared.

“No, Evan, I did not know that.” He said, cringing as the damp sand lodged itself underneath his fingernails. He'd have to scrub underneath them with an old toothbrush tonight.

“You see, they form really dense root systems, and they're actually really invasive so the can spread over wide areas, and so they help form the dunes and keep them in place and intact, which is beneficial to us because in the event of a hurricane, it helps to prevent flood damage.” Evan placed his shoot of dune grace in the hole and covered the roots with more sand.

“That's actually really interesting, isn't it Jared?” Connor nudged Jared.

“Oh yeah, of course!” He said, more focused on the fact that his jeans were wet and cold than the fact that Evan was more knowledgeable about grass than Jared probably was about Evan. 

For a while, they returned to planting dune grass in silence, which then turned into the occasional bickering, which mutated into a full on screaming match between Connor and Jared over whether or not mermaids were real or not. 

“Mermaids don't exist, Connor, it is scientifically impossible!” Jared clenched his fists at his side, the dune grass long forgotten.

“So are black holes but there's one at the fucking center of our galaxy! Not to mention there have been like three new species of whales discovered in the past ten years! If scientists miss something as big as a goddamn whale what makes you think they wouldn't miss a fucking mermaid!” Connor's face was flushed red.

It kind of scared Evan how much they were getting into this. You wouldn't think that two almost adult men would take an argument over something like mermaids so seriously. Evan didn't particularly like the look in Connor's eyes either. That look usually meant one of two things, rough sex was about to ensue, or someone was about to die.

“Connor, there is absolutely no proof that mermaids exist, and without proof you don't have a case!”

“Well there's no proof that they aren't real either, so fuck you!”

“Connor,” Evan tried to step in, “Can you try to breath, you're kind of scaring me a little bit and I don't want you doing anything you might regret over a stupid little argu-”

“It's not a stupid little argument!” 

The second those words left Connor's mouth, he was hit in the face by a clump of cold, damp sand, thrown by none other than Jared Kleinman. Evan could swear that time slowed down as Connor scooped up a handful of sand to retaliate. The sand ball hit Jared square in the chest. Suddenly, a shadow loomed overhead.

The three boys looked up to see none other than their chaperone, and history teacher, Mr. Keating standing over them, with his arms crossed, and a slightly amused look on his face.

“Are you kidding me?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. 

“I-I’m sorry, sir, I, uh, I was trying to stop them I, uh” Evan stuttered. Mr. Keating let out a chuckle.

“Don't worry about it. Why don't you three start heading back to the busses for lunch, the rest of us will be follow shortly.” And with that, he walked off to spread the word of lunch.

The three boyfriends stood up and dusted the sand off of their hands and jeans. As they trudged through the sand back to their bus, Jared turned to Connor while rubbing his chest.

“I think you broke my xiphoid process” 

“Good, maybe it'll pierce your heart and you'll bleed out internally” Connor laughed to show he was joking and interlaced his fingers with Jared’s. Jared scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“I love you too”

When they were finally on the bus, they plopped themselves down into their three-seater. Connor was by the window, Jared was in the aisle, and Evan was sandwiched between them. As the other kids started filing into the bus, the three boys pulled out their lunch. Jared’s was a tuna fish sandwich made by his mother, complete with accompanying juice box and handwritten note. Evan had a plain peanut butter sandwich with the crusts cut off with a bottle of water, which had been prepared by world renowned chef Connor Murphy that very morning. Connor's lunch, well, it wasn't really lunch. It was a bag of hot Cheetos and a can of Monster. 

“Yo,” Jared called to Connor, “Could you hit me up?” Connor allowed him two precious Cheetos and swig of Monster to wash it down. “Jesus Christ man! That's disgusting!”

“Good, more for me then” Connor shoved an entire handful of Cheetos into his mouth.

“You know, Connor,” Evan spoke up, “In the entire time I've known you, I don't think I've ever once seen you eat a vegetable” 

“Yeah man, how are you not, like, morbidly obese with all the crap you eat?” Jared asked.

“What can I say?” Connor smirked, “Fucking two guys at once burns a lot of calories” 

After everyone on the bus had finished their lunch and Mr. keating had taken a head count, the bus rumbled to a start, and they were only an hour and a half away from the sweet embrace of their beds.

“So, considering that it's Friday, and my parents aren't going to be back until Sunday, do you guys want to crash at my place?” Jared asked. Evan nodded and Connor yawned in agreement. 

By the time they were finally back at Jared’s house, they were so tired from their dune grass escapades that, as soon as they had all gotten situated in Jared's bed and said their goodnight ‘I love you’s, they were all out like a light. And in his sleep, Connor muttered something along the lines of, “fuck you Kleinman, the mermaids are gonna kick your ass someday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was loosely based off of an actual dune grass planting field trip that my class went on last year that didn't turn out so well for anyone involved


	4. The End of All Things - Part One (Hunger Games AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I got this idea to do a Hunger Games AU earlier just out of the blue and I wasn't sure whether I should put it here or make it it's own separate thing, but in the end I decided to put it here because you guys seem to like my shorts so much. Despite crying and feeling like I was gonna throw up the whole time, I really loved writing this one and I will definitely be continuing it. Thank you guys so much for all the positive feedback, I really appreciate it!!! <3

The End of All Things - Part One (Hunger Games AU) 

The world was quiet. Too quiet. The sun shone bright over the crisp green grass, and fluffy white clouds floated across the azure blue sky. It was peaceful. Far too peaceful. 

Three boys basked in the sun’s warm glow. Two of them smiled and laughed together over a joke. The one in the middle between them looked less than amused.

“How are you guys not terrified?” He spoke up.

The tallest of the three boys pushed a lock of hair behind his ear. “It's our last year, Evan, if we haven't been reaped the past six years, why should we worry again this year?”

“Connor's right, Evan, besides, even with our names in seven times, the odds are still relatively low” said the boy in the glasses.

“May the odds be ever in your favor” Connor mimicked District 12’s escort, Effie Trinket, causing the boy in glasses to laugh again.

“We should start heading back” Evan said standing up. The other two boys followed in suit. 

Within an hour, they had been checked in and were now interlacing their fingers in the section of the square roped off for the eighteen year olds. All was quiet as the anthem played, and the churning feeling in Evan’s stomach grew stronger. The click of Effie Trinket’s heels as she walked onto the stage was deafening.

“Happy Hunger Games!” Her voice boomed through the microphone, “And may the odds be ever in your favor” She received a small round of applause from the spectators and some of the younger children. “This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, there will be a slight change to the rules.”

Effie’s smile made Connor sick to his stomach. How could she be standing up there, smiling, when she was about to send innocent children to their deaths?

“This year, instead of the usual two tributes, each District will offer four tributes.” A gasp, followed by a soft murmur, emerged from the crowd.

‘Okay,’ Connor thought to himself, ‘The odds are still low, they won't pick us, they won't’

“As always, ladies first!” Effie chirped, strutting over to the glass ball containing the girls’ names. None of three boys knew the female tributes, a shaken Christine Conigula, and an Alana Beck that radiated pretend confidence. 

“And now, for the boys” Effie made her way to the other glass ball. She gingerly reached her hand in and danced her fingers around before finally fishing out a single slip of paper. She brought the microphone to her lips.

“Jared Kleinman”

The boys’ eyes widened and their hearts pounded out of their chests. The sky began crumbling down around them as Connor felt the fingers of the boy with the glasses slip away. Neither could bear to watch as Jared trudged his way up onto the stage. They couldn't look him in the eyes as he stood their, terrified, his bottom lip trembling, and the tears building in his eyes.

Effie reached her hand into the ball once again. Pulling another slip of paper.

“Evan Hansen”

‘No,’ Connor thought as he started to feel Evan’s grip on his hand loosen, ‘This can't be happening, it can't, no.’ And before he could register what he was doing, Connor pushed Evan back and marched right into the center of the aisle, and even without a microphone, his voice boomed throughout the square. “I volunteer as tribute!”

The crowd was silent. The world stood still. Connor marched up the stairs, onto the stage, and took his place next to a silently weeping Jared. He clenched his jaw as Effie approached him with the microphone.

“And what's your name, young man?”

“Connor Murphy” 

After being presented as the tributes for District 12, the four children were led into two different rooms in the Justice Hall, the boys in one, the girls in another. 

As soon as they sat down on the red velvet couch in their room, Jared collapsed into Connor's arms and sobbed. Connor held him as tight as he could, choking up a bit himself, but he refused to cry, because he was going to have to be the strong one here. Knowing what came next made their impending doom somehow worse. Their families and friends would come to say goodbye.

Jared's mother was first. She spent most of her time hugging him, refusing to let him go. When Jared was finally able to pull away, he placed his hands on her shoulders.

“You're going to be okay,” he assured her with a heavy heart, “No matter what happens to me, you're going to be okay” 

She turned to the other boy, “Connor” she choked out, hugging him as well. 

“Thank you Mrs. Kleinman” he muttered into her hair, “Thank you for everything you've ever done for me”

She barely had enough time to hug her son one last time before a peacekeeper came in to announce her time was up, and dragged her away. Jared collapsed onto the couch and buried his face in his hands.

Connor's family was next. His father had a stern, grim look on his face, his mother was bawling, and his sister, Zoe, couldn't even look him in the eye, not even as he hugged her. He whispered into Zoe’s ear, things like ‘it's okay’ and ‘be strong for me’. 

“Can you guys do me a favor?” He asked as he let Zoe go. His father nodded. “Could at least one of you look like you're gonna see me again?”

Zoe looked up at him and smiled sadly, and reached up to stroke his arm. “See you when you get back, Connor” and with one last embrace, they were gone.

Last was Evan. 

He barged into the room and dragged Jared up from the couch so that he could hug them both at once. Jared clutched onto Evan’s blue polo shirt, as if it was the only thing keeping him tethered to the ground. Finally, Jared pulled away and forcefully pressed his lips to Evan’s.

“I love you Jared” Evan sobbed.

“I love you too, Evan, never forget that, okay?” Jared kissed him again. Then Evan turned to Connor.

“Why would you do that!” He shouted, launching himself at the taller boy. Connor pulled Evan into his chest before he had a chance to hit him. “Why did you do that Connor?” He sobbed.

“I had too, Evan. I can't let you go into that arena.” He pulled away and cupped Evan’s face in his hands. “I love you so much, Evan.” His voice cracked. “And we'll always be with you, always. No matter what happens, we're gonna be alive in you, and the sun, and all the trees...we will always be with you.” 

Evan yanked Connor down by his collar and kissed him harder than he ever had. “I can't live without you” he sobbed.

“Yes you can” Connor assured forcefully, “You can and you will. You have to be strong, for me and for Jared. You're gonna make it through this, Evan, and one day…” Connor finally felt his bottoms lip start to tremble, “One day it won't hurt so much”

“You will see us again” Jared spoke up. “Whether it's in this life, or the next, we'll be together again someday, I promise.” 

And after sharing their last kisses, Connor and Jared could do nothing but watch as Evan was dragged from the room, kicking and screaming, until he was out of the room, out of sight, and out of their lives.


	5. The End of All Things - Part Two (Hunger Games AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's going to be one more part after this which will be the actual games. Im really surprised by how well this is doing and I'm so glad you all enjoy it <3

The End of All Things - Part Two (Hunger Games AU) 

It was all a blur. From Evan being dragged out the door to being loaded into a car, to being put on a train. Jared had ceased his crying, but he was still shaking uncontrollably. Connor had still yet to shed a tear. 

The four tributes sat at the dining table, covered in tremendous amounts of food, as Effie peppily introduced them to their mentor, Haymitch, who didn't look all too interested. 

“I will say,” Haymitch grumbled while buttering a slice of toast, “Volunteering for that Evan kid makes our jobs a whole lot easier”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Connor snapped, causing Christine and Alana to jump.

“It means,” Haymitch gestured with his butter knife, “that people are already talking about you, you've already made a statement, ‘the boy who volunteered’” he then pointed to Jared, “ and ‘the boy who cried’” 

Connor continued to glare at Haymitch, not bothering to share why he had volunteered, or why Jared had cried, it was none of his business.

“If I'm going to help you, I need to know what I'm dealing with here so” Haymitch pointed to Alana, “You, what can you do, any talents, special skills?”

Alana shifted her gaze from Haymitch to her hands. “Well, I like helping people, I like to think of myself as a friendly person. That could come in handy when the other tributes are forming alliances.”

Haymitch nodded, slightly impressed. “What about you?” He asked gesturing to Christine.

“My mother's an apothecary, so I know a lot about medicine” 

“What about you two?” Haymitch turned to Connor and Jared. It was silent for a moment, before Connor piped up.

“Jared's insanely smart, like, a genius” 

Jared's face turned red. “No I'm not” he retorted.

“Yes he is. We were in the same class at school and he's a really good decision maker and a quick thinker, too.”

“Connor's strong” Jared cut in. “And he's fast. He's really good at climbing and stuff.”

Haymitch nodded in approval. After a few minutes of silent contemplation, he retired to his room, and after a few minutes of awkward silence, the girls followed in suit. Connor picked up the bowl that had been placed in front of Jared and ladled into it some stew from the largest pot on the table.

“You should eat” Connor said, placing the bowl back down in front of Jared. Jared didn't budge, or even acknowledge that Connor had said anything. “Please Jared” Connor pleaded, again with the same result. “I'll eat too if you want, just please eat something, for me” 

Jared reluctantly picked up his spoon and slowly but surely began to eat spoonful after spoonful of the stew. Connor stuck true to his word and got a bowl of stew for himself. It was beef stew, with peas and carrots and potatoes. It tasted so good it almost made him want to cry. Jared had finished his stew first, and when he did, he rested his head against Connor's shoulder. When Connor finished his stew, he turned to Jared, “We should get some sleep” He suggested and help Jared to his feet. 

The pajamas spread out on their beds were tossed to the floor as they stripped down to their underwear. Connor refused to wear anything made in the Capitol until he absolutely had to. Jared just simply didn't care enough to put pajamas on. In fact, Jared ignored his bed completely, instead favoring to curl up with Connor in his bed instead. Connor held Jared as close to him as he possibly could.

“How am I supposed to sleep when…” Jared trailed off.

“What, honey?” Connor urged.

“How am I supposed to sleep when-” Jared's voice hitched and the tears began to fall again. “We're gonna die, Connor. We're gonna die.”

Connor knew it was true. The odds were thrown out the window. There was no way either of them could win. They could probably outlast the weaklings, but Jared wasn't fast enough to outrun the Careers, nor was Connor strong enough to fight them. 

“I know” Connor whispers, running his fingers through Jared's hair. What else could he say? And for the first time, Connor allowed himself to cry. “I know, Jared, I know.” 

Neither of them realized they'd cried themselves to sleep until they were being awoken by Effie, who seemed uncomfortable with their state of almost nakedness.

“Up up! You have a big day ahead of you and we have a schedule to keep!” And with that, she left.

Connor reluctantly untangled himself from Jared, and dressed in his clothes from yesterday. Jared on the other hand, opted for a shirt and pants he found in the wardrobe. Upon entering the dining area, they were greeted by Alana, Christine, and Haymitch, enjoying a breakfast of pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, fruit, and just about anything you could imagine. The two boys took their seats and filled up their plates. 

“Today you're going to meet with your stylists” Haymitch announced, “They're going to prepare you for the tributes parade tonight.”

-§-

Connor refused to leave Jared's side. How dare they try to separate them, he didn't care about the schedule, or that they had to meet with their stylists, he wasn't doing anything without Jared. 

“Connor,” Effie spoke gently in an effort to calm him, “It won't be for very long, you just have to meet with your stylist for a little while and then-”

“Fuck you!” Connor shouted and swung at her, but didn't hit her. “And fuck everyone that has anything to do with this!” And with that he stormed into the room where he would meet his stylist.

He plopped himself down on a chair with his back to the door and waited in silence until he heard it open.

“Hello, my name is Cinna, and I'll be your stylist” Connor didn't acknowledge him at all. “I want you to understand that the impression you make tonight will be crucial to yours and Jared's survival in the Games” Cinna ignored the presence of another chair, and sat on the table directly in front of Connor instead. “I'm not just here to make you look pretty you know.”

“What do you mean ‘mine and Jared's survival’?” Connor looked up at Cinna for the first time, “There can only be one winner, and it's not gonna be either of us”

“That's where we come in. Haymitch and I have been discussing some strategies and we came up with one that we think can benefit you both” 

“And what would that be?” Connor asked, not believing a word of it.

“The citizens of the Capitol love drama, so that's exactly what we'll give them. You're not gonna keep your relationship with Jared and Evan hidden, you're going to be very open about it, even overplay it if you have too. Make the audience fall in love with you. And, if they love you enough, they'll sponsor you, help you survive, and they might even convince the Gamemakers make a rule change”

“You mean” Connor interrupted, “They'd let us both win?”

“That's what we're hoping for”

-§-

When Jared and Connor were finally reunited, it was already time to board their chariots for the parade. They were both tremendously glad their stylists hadn't dressed them as coal miners. Instead, they were draped in black togas and their hands had been dusted with a black powder to emulate coal dust. Connor had also insisted that Cinna paint his nails black as well. Cinna had also informed him of the little surprise they were going to give the audience. The original plan was to not tell them, however, since the girls and Connor had long enough hair to pull it off, Cinna thought it best to ensure them that they would be completely safe when their hair was set on fire.

“Remember what we talked about” Cinna reminded Connor, earning a confused look from Jared. And with that, they were sent off. 

Soon, they could hear the deafening din of the cheering crowd. When they were far enough out that the entire crowd could see them, the girls’ hair, dresses, and veils ignited. Not a second later, Connor's hair, along with both of their capes and tunics were set ablaze. A collective gasp from the crowd was heard. Then, Connor did what Cinna told him to do. He interlaced his fingers with Jared's and thrust their interlocked hands into the air.

When they reached the circle with the other tributes, the flames were extinguished, and they lowered their hands, and awaited President Snow’s speech.

-§-

Training passed them by in a blur. Christine and Jared had both scored a 6, Alana had scored a 7. Connor blew them all away by earning a 10. 

Jared was anxious for the interview. He and connor had both been dressed in black suits, with little rhinestone flames on the sleeves. Cinna had reminded them to talk about Evan, and to make sure everyone knew they would do anything to get back to him. As they waited in line, Jared took Connor's hand to try and ground himself. He noticed that Connor's nails were still painted black.

Typically, the tributes were interviewed one by one, however, Cinna had pulled some strings and ensured that Connor and Jared were interviewed together. Jared was definitely intimidated by Caesar Flickerman’s blue eyebrows. 

“How are you gentleman this fine evening?” Caesar asked as they sat down.

“We've been alright” Connor answered, squeezing Jared's hand.

“Now, I think the question we've all been asking ourselves these past few days is, who's the boy you volunteered for, Connor? Who is Evan Hansen?” 

Connor looked around at the crowd, how they were on the edge of their seats waiting for the answer. He remembered what Cinna had said. But before he could open his mouth, Jared answered for him.

“He's our boyfriend.”

The crowd gasped.

“Well that certainly does put you two in a sticky situation, doesn't it?” Caesar asked, with what looked like genuine pity in his eyes.

“Yes, it does” Connor replied, “But we're going to do everything we can to make sure that at least one of us gets back to him in one piece”

The rest of the interview consisted of boring mindless questions that neither had to put too much thought into. When it was finally over, they made no delay getting back to their room and stripping off their suits, collapsing into their bed and holding onto each other for dear life, knowing what tomorrow would bring.


	6. The End of All Things - Part Three (Hunger Games AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I lied, there's going to be one more part after this, it's just that this part was getting really long and I felt really bad for not updating in so long. It's just that I've been really sick all week and I just got back from a Volbeat concert where I dislocated a toe and shit's been crazy, so here's something to satisfy your cravings for now <3

The End of All Things - Part Three (Hunger Games AU)

Connor sat with Cinna in the catacombs underneath the arena. His hands were shaking, his mind was racing, and he tried his best to accept the fact that this glass of water would probably be his last. He went to nervously push a lock of hair behind his ear, before remembering that he'd let Cinna tie it back in a bun, after telling him that leaving his hair down would make it easier for the other tributes to grab him by it. 

“Thank you, Cinna” Connor placed his empty glass on the table, “For everything”

“Don't thank me yet, I've still got one last surprise for you” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box “You're allowed to take a token into the arena with you”

Connor opened the box and furrowed his brows in confusion as he pulled from it a silver locket. It opened with a soft click. The photo inside nearly brought him to tears. He remembered the day it was taken. It was of Jared, Evan, and himself, sitting on the branch of a tree that Evan had made them climb. They were all smiling with their arms around each other, they were so happy.

“Cinna, you shouldn't have”

“I didn't” Cinna said, causing Connor to look up in confusion, “Jared did. He came to me with the idea. He has one too, and we sent one to Evan.”

“How is he? Is he okay?”

Cinna placed a hand on Connor's shoulder. “He'll be doing a lot better when you two get home to him” and with a sigh, he stood “It's time”

Connor made his way to the glass capsule that would raise him into the arena. As the door shut behind him, the panic finally started setting in. With one last look at Cinna, the floor started to rise, and soon, the sun was on his face. He looked around. Ahead of him was the cornucopia, spilling with weapons and supplies. Behind him was the forest. There were a few tributes separating him from Jared. He noticed Jared staring intently at a backpack at the mouth of the cornucopia. Connor managed to lock eyes with him and give a subtle shake of his head ‘no’. 

10, 9, 8

Connor held his hand down by his side and pointed ever so slightly to the woods behind them, trying to tell Jared to go that way.

7, 6, 5, 

Jared gave a single nod.

4, 3, 2,

Connor took a deep breath and braced himself.

1

Connor turned and ran as fast as he could toward the treeline. He tried desperately to ignore the screams coming from behind him. Then he heard a thud, and turned just in time to see that Jared had tripped and fallen, and that a girl from District 2 was charging at him.

“Jared get up!” Connor shouted as he raced back to him. He dove for the girl's legs and tackled her to the ground and, by some miracle, he was able to wrestle the knife out of her hands and slash her throat. Jared had gotten up and was trying to pull Connor away from her, but Connor made sure to take the backpack from her shoulders before he took off. He held the knife in one hand, and grabbed Jared with the other, dragging him along as he bolted toward the woods, looking back every few seconds to make sure they weren't being followed. 

When Connor finally decided they were far enough away from the bloodbath, he and Jared collapsed at the base of a tree to catch their breath. It was a solid five minutes before either of them could speak a word. Connor set down the knife and unzipped the backpack, examining its contents and showing them to Jared. An empty canteen, a box of matches, some rope, a sleeping bag, a bottle of iodine, and a sleeve of crackers. 

“Finding water should be our top priority” Jared said, to which Connor nodded. “I learned in training that you should head down hill, and pay attention to animal tracks” 

“Alright” Connor said, leaning his head against Jared's shoulders, “We'll rest a little longer, then we'll start looking” 

Connor was still panting heavily, and the cloud of heavy silence that hung through the air was so dense you could cut it with a knife. Just like Connor had cut that girl's throat. 

“You killed her” Jared whispered. Rationally, he knew why Connor had done it, he knew that he had to have done it. Jared knew he'd be dead if Connor hadn't done it. But it still scared him that he was able to do it so easily, without a second thought. 

Connor picked at the dried blood on his hands, trying to scrape it off, but to no avail. He spit into his hands and, between that and his jacket, he was able to get most of it off. He realized how scared Jared must've been to have seen something like that. Hell, it scared Connor. He couldn't get the image out of his head.

Boom.

The canons were fired to mark the end of the initial bloodbath, and each fallen tribute. In all, Jared had counted 22. 22 tributes already gone. 

Connor pushed himself to a standing position and slung the backpack over his shoulder, before helping Jared up. They continued hiking away from the cornucopia, Jared frequently reminding Connor to keep his eyes peeled. The sun had just begun to set when Connor was stopped by Jared grabbing his shoulder.

“What are you-”

“Shh” Jared hissed, putting a finger to his lips. “Do you hear that?” Connor stopped to listen. He knew that sound. Running water. His head snapped to face Jared, who had already started off in the direction of the sound. As they pushed their way through bushes and thicket, the sound grew closer, until they found themselves in a small clearing on the bank of a stream. Jared got closer and inspected the water.

“It's running water, and it looks pretty clear, but we should still purify it first, just to be safe” Jared said. Connor, handed him the canteen and the bottle of iodine, and Jared set to his task.

“It'll be about thirty minutes before we can drink it, I say since the sun's going down, we should set up some kind of camp” Jared suggested.

“Well, we've got the sleeping bag,” Connor said, “but sleeping on the ground could be risky of the careers are out looking for blood” 

“Trees then?” Jared asked.

“I guess so, I don't know how that'll work though. One branch won't fit both of us, and we only have one sleeping bag.”

The two pondered their predicament for a while, before Jared spoke.

“There was rope in that backpack, right? If we find some strong enough branches, we could tie them together and make, like, a hammock.” 

“Not a bad idea, Kleinman” Connor praised, patting him on the back. The two agreed to split up and look for branches. Connor gave Jared the knife, just in case, and reminded him not to stray too far from the clearing. Within fifteen minutes, they both had a significant amount of sturdy branches. Being that Connor was more knowledgeable of knots than Jared was, he was given the task of weaving together the hammock. 

Jared tried to appreciate the beauty of the artificial stars as he snuggled closer to Connor. When the images of the fallen tributes had been projected into the sky just minutes earlier, they both felt as if they were going to be sick. All Connor could think about was the image of the girl from District 2 that was burnt into his brain. Not the pristine, perfect image from the sky. No. He saw her throat, cut open, gushing blood. He was so glad he had Jared there to hold him. It helped, if only a little, to remind him that he wasn't a monster. After they'd both turned their heads to the sky and whispered “Goodnight, Evan”, they nestled in for sleep.

The morning started simple. The boys woke up, filled their canteen, ate a few crackers. They were discussing their plan for the day. That's when they heard a twig snap. Connor instinctively pulled out his knife and put an arm out in front of Jared. The bushes rustled. Whatever it was was getting closer, and fast. 

“Get in the tree” Connor hissed at Jared. 

Jared took off, Connor close behind him. They were seated in their hammock in record time, Connor with his knife still at the ready. Suddenly, a boy burst into the far end of the clearing, a pack of careers hot on his trail. Jared recognized him instantly. It was one of the boys from District 3, Jeremy. He'd talked to him a bit during training, he was a nice kid. Without thinking, Jared shouted to him.

“Jeremy! Up here!” 

As Jeremy began to scale the tree, Connor snapped his head around and glared angrily at Jared as he realizes the full impact of what he had done. He saved Jeremy’s ass, sure, but he'd given their location away to the careers. By the time Jeremy was safe in the hammock with them, one of the careers had begun to climb, but he was too heavy, and the branch he was holding broke. Then, one of the girls fired an arrow at them, just missing Connor's ear. The careers laughed amongst themselves, muttering about how ‘they'll have to come down sometime’.

“Thank you so much” Jeremy gushed, “Really, thank you. I'm Jeremy.” He held his hand out for Connor to shake. Connor glared once more at Jared, but reluctantly took Jeremy’s hand. 

“What happened?” Jared asked.

“They woke us up. Attacked us. By the time I got to my feet, Alana was already…” he shook his head, “Michael told me to run so I ran, but they followed me. I don't know what happened to Michael and Christine” 

“You knew them?” Connor asked.

“We formed an alliance, we got to talking back during training and we hit it off I guess. Michael’s from my District though, I've known him my whole life.” Jeremy was still visibly shaken. They spent the next few hours whispering plans to off the careers to each other, but none seemed feasible. Meanwhile, the careers below occasionally boasted, or yelled threats at them. 

Between the three of them, they polished off the canteen, and ate most of the remaining crackers. When night came, they watched the faces in the sky. Jeremy let out a sigh of relief when he saw that Michael was not up there, only to sink back into despair when Alana’s face was followed by Christine's. 

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Connor was awoken in the wee hours of the morning by a faint beeping sound. He looked around desperately, knowing from past games what the sound was. There, stuck on the branch above his head, was a silver container hanging by a silver parachute. He sat up and grabbed it, rocking the hammock a bit as he did so. The rocking awoke Jared and Jeremy, who saw what Connor had almost instantly. He carefully screwed open the container, and picked up the slip of paper inside. “Don't have such a short fuse -H” 

“It's from Haymitch, but I don't know what it means” Connor shook his head, more than a little confused. He passed the paper to Jared, who didn't understand it either, then it made it's way to Jeremy. He scanned them message for a moment, then furrowed his eyebrows.

“Can I see that?” He asked, gesturing to the open container. Connor nodded and handed it over. Looking inside, Jeremy could see a mess of wires, and it all made sense. “Oh my god” he gasped.

“What?” Connor pryed. 

“It's a bomb.”

The three sat in shock for a moment, wondering why Haymitch would send them a fucking bomb, until the gears in Jared's head clicked.

“It's for the the careers. We drop it on them then, boom!” He made an exploding gesture with his hands.”

“We’d need someone to drop it, though” Connor pointed out, “And there won't be enough time to get out of the way after we do drop it”

“I'll do it” Jeremy piped up.

“Absolutely not” Connor said, taking the container from him and screwing the top back on. 

“You guys saved my ass,” Jeremy pointed out, “I owe you”

“Jeremy no” Jared gritted his teeth.

“Jeremy yes” Jeremy insisted. 

Connor sighed. “Okay, if this is really what you want” he stuck out his hand, “You're a good kid, Jeremy” 

Jeremy shook hands with Connor, before being enveloped in a hug from Jared. Jeremy's then moved to the tree the careers were sleeping beneath, while Connor and Jared carefully rolled up the hammock and there supplies.

“Do me a favor” Jeremy called to them, just as they were about to get away. “Find Michael, tell him I sent you, and tell him I...” he sighed “Oh he knows it”

Connor nodded, and with that, he and Jared jumped from one tree to the next, until they were far enough away, then they climbed down, and braced themselves to run. Connor whistled the signal, and they took off, the way Jeremy had come from the day before. They were pushed to their knees from the force of the blast, but they regained their composure, looking back just long enough to see their tree, and the ground beneath it, engulfed in flames.


End file.
